page_title: Chesterton, Oxfordshire
section_title: Parish church
hierarchical_section_title: Chesterton, Oxfordshire / Parish church
caption_attribution_description: English: Stair turret added to St Mary the Virgin parish church, Chesterton, Oxfordshire in 1866
context_page_description: Chesterton is a village and civil parish on Gagle Brook, a tributary of the Langford Brook in north Oxfordshire. The village is about 1 ¹⁄₂ miles southwest of the market town of Bicester. The village has sometimes been called Great Chesterton to distinguish it from the hamlet of Little Chesterton, about ³⁄₄ mile to the south in the same parish. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 850.
context_section_description: The oldest part of the Church of England parish church of St Mary is a 12th-century three-bay arcade between the nave and the north aisle. The arcade is in the Transitional style between Norman and Early English Gothic. The church was rebuilt in the 13th century and reconsecrated in 1238. The chancel arch and arcade of the south aisle, both of which are Early English Gothic, date from this period. The Decorated Gothic bell tower was added early in the 14th century. The present Perpendicular Gothic windows in the south aisle were added in the 14th or 15th century. In the 15th century a clerestory was added to the nave and a five-light east window was inserted in the chancel.
  In 1852 the east window was replaced with a Gothic Revival Decorated Gothic four-light one, and in 1854 the chancel arch was restored. In 1866 the architect F.C. Penrose restored much of the building, including the windows in the south aisle and some of those in the north aisle. He also added a turret staircase to the tower. St Mary's is a Grade II* listed building.
  By 1552 St. Mary's three bells and Sanctus bell. William Watts of Bedford cast the present tenor bell in about 1590. Henry Farmer of Evesham in Worcestershire and James Keene of Woodstock jointly cast the present treble and second bells in 1623. Richard III Chandler of Drayton Parslow in Buckinghamshire cast the present Sanctus bell in 1715. The clock was added in 1884.
  The priest and historian Gerald of Wales held the living of St. Mary's from about 1193 until his death in about 1223. St. Mary's parish is now a member of the Church of England Benefice of Akeman, which includes the parishes of Bletchingdon, Hampton Gay, Kirtlington, Middleton Stoney, Wendlebury and Weston-on-the-Green.
caption: Stair turret added to St Mary's west tower in 1866
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